Calvin, Nourison launch area rugs

Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, November 5, 2001

New York — Area rugs joined the Calvin Klein Home family of home furnishings at a debut launch here last week for retailers and press hosted by Nourison president Alex Peykar, Calvin Klein president Tom Murray and Calvin Klein senior vp, Barbara Deichman.

The 27 styles in the collection of distinctive designs include five qualities with four to eight designs in each, featuring pure wools and wool and silk blends.

Included are handwoven flatweaves at $700 retail for the 6' x 9'; machine woven wools with handcarving or handhooking at $1,200, handmade wool and silk blends at $2,400 retail, handknotted wool and silk blends at $3,000 and Tibetan wool and silk at $3,400.

The collection produced by Nourison under its Calvin Klein Home license will be launched at retail first by those department stores that presently carry the Calvin Klein Home home textiles, tabletop and giftware, according to Ed Vairo, director of creative marketing for Nourison. "Independent and free-standing rug and furniture retailers will be offered the program on a one-on-one basis with an approval process in coordination with Calvin Klein Home," he added.

The rugs will be showcased in the department stores' rug departments with significant signage and display focus. "We will work with the stores for distinctive and delineated shops. And on a store-by-store basis we will look at having special introductory events," Vairo said.